Web browsing is becoming a common part of daily life for many people. Documents are often retrieved from the Internet through a web browser. However, for some people, document download speeds may not be as fast as desired.
One approach to alleviating the speed problem is to have a server-side system that prefetches web documents and preloads them into a client before a user of the client actually requests the document. However, it is also important to prefetch and preload the proper version of the documents. The content of a document that is actually presented to a user often depends on the state of the user's browsing session. Information about the browsing session state may be stored in cookies.
A server-side prefetch system may have its own set of cookies for use in prefetching documents. However, a server-side prefetch system may not be able to access the full set of cookies stored at a client.
Accordingly, methods and systems that obtain and store cookies in a way that facilitates selection of acceptable cookies for use in prefetch operations is highly desirable.